Dragon Age: Convergence
by BansheeRymm
Summary: It has been a year since the Exalted Council. The Inquisition has been allowed to continue as Divine Victoria's honor guard, and they have been pursuing their efforts of finding Solas discreetly. However, as the Qunari siege Tevinter's borders, Inquisitor Nora Lavellan finds that she has enemies on two fronts. Meanwhile, the Grey Wardens stir from their exile...
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Hello, it's been a while to those of you who have been following me! To new friends and acquaintances, welcome. My current pen name is Banshee, and I'm here to give you a bit of a foreword about my latest and greatest FanFiction project⏤Dragon Age: Convergence.

One of my friends recently (and accidentally) shoved Dragon Age back to the forefront of my thoughts after not playing for a solid year. So, what do I do? I deleted all of my old characters and restarted the game as an elven mage Inquisitor. At first, I had no intention of romancing anyone, but another friend of mine recommended Iron Bull or Cullen. Of course, I ignore both suggestions, and I go for Solas. And of course, the relationship is a total emotional sinkhole, and I cri evertiem. This story is meant to be what comes after Dragon Age: Inquisition, if I had my way. It will be based off of the world decisions I made with both of my previous characters, and it will be shaped by the world decisions these characters make in _this_ story.

 **WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!**

 _ **Important Decisions⏤Dragon Age: Origins**_

Female Elven Warrior Warden

Saved Grand Enchanter Irving and the Ferelden Circle of Magi

Sided with the Dalish Elves and killed the Werewolves

Using the Circle of Magi, saved Arl Eamon's son without killing his wife

Harrowmont elected King of Orzammar

Killed Loghain

Made Queen Anora sole sovereign

Romanced Alistair, made friends with Morrigan, Leliana, and Rabbit (Mabari companion)

Convinced Alistair to sleep with Morrigan to conceive a baby that would absorb the Archdemon's soul in place of Alistair or HoF

 _ **Important Decisions⏤Dragon Age II**_

[Default World State]

 _ **Important Decisions⏤Dragon Age: Inquisition**_

Female Elven Mage Inquisitor

Allied with Mages

Leadership Doctrine was "For What's Right"

Hawke died in the Fade, Alistair survived

Exiled the Grey Wardens

Kept Celene as Empress of Orlais, Briala was spared, Gaspard was exiled, and Florianne was arrested w/o boss fight

Allied with Abelas and his sentinels

Drank from the Well of Sorrows

Romanced Solas, became friends with Cullen and Josephine

Leliana is made Divine Victoria

Killed Iron Bull

Freed Ataashi

Determined Inquisition's purpose to be dissuading Solas from his path, not killing him

Inquisition remains as a peacekeeping force; the Divine's honor guard

As stated above, this is my current World State. My Hero of Ferelden is alive and well along with Alistair, and Hawke is most likely dead (because I literally have no emotional ties to him/her whatsoever; easiest decision to make by far in Inquisition).

I will also be using quite a lot of the Elvish language in this story. While most of the cast will be from diverse races and backgrounds, all of the main POVs will be from elves. The plot of this story surrounds a problem created by elves, perpetuated by elves, and now, elves want to finish this problem in whatever way they see fit, which becomes a problem later. Keep in mind that the main POVs are elves from different backgrounds, and they will have different personalities and beliefs. This is _not_ a story about multiple "I am wise and patient" characters, if anyone is worried about that.

 _ **Disclaimers**_

The Dragon Age series, plot, universe, and characters do not belong to me, they belong to EA and BioWare. I am not using this story for any commercial or personal benefit; this is a free story on a free website for anyone to read at their leisure. The concept of the Hero of Ferelden and the Inquisitor belong to BioWare and EA, as well, but their physical appearances and personalities are of my own creation. The Tevinter OC's concept, physical appearance, and personality are all mine, but, as I stated above, the universe and the basis of this concept belong to BioWare and EA. There are a few other OCs that are mine, as well.


	2. Ar Inanan Ma'Vhenas

**_Ar Inanan Ma'Vhenas_**

 **Unknown Location**

 **9:45 Dragon**

 _Young Nora Lavellan crouched to sift through this season's medicinal crop. This year was unusually bountiful, she remembered. There seemed to be enough elfroot leaves to cure an entire army's worth of wounds, though at the time, she could not comprehend the scale of such a force. The autumnal gales howled through the sparse treescape and surrounding crops, tearing through her thin apprentice's robes and causing her to shiver. Embrium would be useful, she thought. Perhaps the Keeper would want her to put together some tonics for the road. The clan would soon be on the move again._

 _Nora tucked a strand of black hair behind her pointed ears, and scowled when more hair came to flit in her face. She would need to cut it sometime in the future. Shoulder length should be enough to keep the dratted thing out of her face._

 _And there she stayed for many hours. Crouched in the middle of a windy field miles away from her Clan's current encampment, sifting through tens of hundreds of herbs. All of these were stashed in one of her many wool sacks. She only stood from her cramped position when the sun dipped low in the horizon and had its reddish light sliced apart by the reaching trunks of the nearby forest._

 _Nora stretched, receiving several satisfying pops and cracks, and shuffled over to sit on the wall encircling the herb field. Untying the waterskin at her hip and sipping from the leathery-tasting water, she absentmindedly studied the treeline._

 _It was then that she spotted it. The shadow within the shadows of the forest. It was always there. Studying her. Following her. But it never approached, and she could never approach it. The wolf's six eyes were bright green⏤glowing, almost. It always watched her without a sound, but whenever she would try to go near it, the wolf would disappear entirely. Nora, however, became only more intrigued the more this happened. And more agitated, for some reason. She stared at the wolf, and the wolf stared back. This contest lasted for several tense minutes until Nora scowled. She had enough._

 _She leapt off of the wall, leaving her sacks of herbs and her waterskin. The wolf watched her determined strides from behind the treeline with something akin to longing and sadness. Just as Nora was about to cross into the dark forest, the wolf whined. She froze. It had never done that before. It crouched and lowered its muzzle, still staring at her with wide eyes. She tilted her head, confused at this turn of events. Wolves weren't common in any of her Clan's regular campsites, so she had little idea of what it was trying to tell her._

 _So she continued to approach slowly, with her left hand outstretched. It was then that the wolf's gaze moved from her face to this hand, and suddenly, a bone-crushing pain wracked it. Nora cried out, collapsing to the ground. She could see that her left hand began to glow a furious shade of green and spark. The pain was all-consuming, it was clawing up her arm, and then⏤_

He watched through the eluvian as Lady Inquisitor Nora Lavellan woke from her restless dream. As usual, she gasped and sat up, immediately checking her hand for any damage. Of course, there wasn't, as she had lost that entire arm a year ago, and she now sported a silverite prosthetic, courtesy of Skyhold's arcanist. She let out a sigh⏤of what emotion, he couldn't tell⏤and muttered something unintelligible. By her intonation, he could tell that whatever it was, she had spoken in Elvish. He winced, knowing from previous, heart-wrenching experience that she only ever spoke her native tongue in extreme agitation.

" _Solas…_ "

The Dread Wolf perked up at the use of his true name, and his eyes narrowed at the brief shimmer of tears on Nora's cheeks before she forcefully jerked an arm against her face. Her crestfallen expression was schooled into the familiar cool, confident façade of the Lady Inquisitor. The sheets were pushed back, and Solas could hear the wooden pitter-patter of feet through the eluvian as his _vhenan_ approached her closet. She made a face at the many bright, shiny silks she had to choose from as the Divine's honor guard, and proceeded to sullenly paw through the outfits.

Solas used the Inquisitor's slow morning habits to his advantage. He began to study her posture and expression, to really see _her_. She had a slight hunch⏤as was per usual of modern elves, though he never remembered her back being quite that bowed⏤and her lips were pinched in a small, constant frown. Her midnight black hair was still kept shoulder-length and looked as healthy and silky as ever. Her skin was paler than normal, and he knew that it was a result of long hours in the council chamber with her advisors and little contact with the sun in recent months.

The one thing that bothered Solas the most, however, was Nora's _vallaslin_. It ran a deep crimson color in circling designs around her equally red eyes. According to the wandering Dalish elves, it was a sign of respect to the gods; the Inquisitor's own design was particular to Mythal, the patron of motherhood and justice in the Elvhen pantheon. In reality, the tattoos were slave markings of the Evanuris⏤powerful elven mages likened to gods who made up the modern elven pantheon. The Dread Wolf never quite understood why his _vhenan_ refused to allow him to remove the offending marks, and now he supposed he never would.

It was a sobering thought, and, as if on cue, there was a knock on his chamber doors. The quiet peace of the moment was gone. Solas waved his hand, and Nora's image and chambers disappeared into the eluvian. The glassy, inactive surface of the mirror returned. Solas used the reflection to adjust his wolf pelt hood before he approached the door and opened it.

Abelas stood there, his stoic, catlike eyes taking in Solas's countenance. He then inclined his shaven head. " _Ara seranna-ma, Fen'harel._ "*

" _Na anes vhallem._ "**

Abelas stepped aside, and together they strode down the silent hallway. Veilfire torches flickered a pale green light that danced up and down the corridor, giving the shadows of ancient frescoes and carvings along the wall lifelike movement. Neither of them spoke save for quiet greetings to the guards at regular intervals, though Solas noticed Abelas glancing at him now and again.

" _Dirtha, Abelas._ Do you have something on your mind?" Solas kept his tone neutrally curious and his expression much the same, though he had a feeling he knew what Abelas would ask.

Solas's spymaster hesitated before posing his question. "Do you still... monitor your Dalish _fenlin_?"

Without answering, Solas replied with his own question. "Why?"

Abelas's features twisted with barely concealed curiosity, Solas could tell, with a hint of suspicion. "Because she is a liability. A weakness." _Your_ _weakness_ , Solas imagined him saying. "She is opposed to the sundering of the Veil, and therefore she is an enemy to Elvhen, to the future of the People," Abelas reminded him with open derision.

Then, it was quiet again. Solas struggled to maintain his neutral façade despite the silence, however. They passed another set of guards who inclined their heads respectfully. Their faces were noticeably bare of any vallaslin. The right wall of the hallway opened up into a lush garden filled with various herbs and other flora. Solas allowed himself to relax in the fresh air. He would have let his anger go if Abelas did not decide to pursue a dangerous subject and open his mouth once more.

"Even with that said, she will most likely die from the Sundering⏤" Solas whipped around, catching Abelas by the shoulders, and slammed him into the nearest wall. A snarl twisted the Dread Wolf's face as he growled, "I would choose your next words carefully, _da'len_. She is in opposition to our cause, yes, but she is also _my_ problem. Not yours, nor anyone else's. You just need to trust me to take care of the Inquisition. _Hartha, Abelas_?"

The sentinel winced and glanced up at Solas, whose snarl had grown grotesque and truly lupine. The blood drained from Abelas's face, and Solas knew he had heard and understood the message loudly and clearly. The Dread Wolf had come out to play.

Solas let go of Abelas, who stumbled away, taking a moment to recollect his perpetually calm mask. "Find people competent enough to infiltrate the new Inquisition. Preferably those with some magical skill. Then, I'd like for you to send a scouting party to the Anderfels' eastern border. Another of Mythal's temples should be there, relatively untouched."

The sentinel jerked a nod at the Dread Wolf before bounding away to complete the tasks set before him. Normally, Solas would have paused to relish his being alone again, but Abelas's unthinking words spurred him into furious motion. He sent out a telepathic message to each of his advisors, calling them to the council chambers. There was much to be done, and Solas could not afford to be distracted by his _vhenan_ any longer. She was a threat; it was time to start treating her as such.

The Dread Wolf burst into his council chambers with an agitated ruffling of his lupine furs, and he took his place at the head of the sylvan table just as other elves began to materialize from the shadows of adjacent chambers and offices. He smoothed out the ancient, crinkled map splaid before the council, studying its contents for what seemed to be the millionth time.

It was a map of Thedas, though the national borders were far different. Elvish script, arrows, circles, and crosses were etched into the delicate paper with charcoal, though a set of sites marked by leafless trees were the most worked by writing utensils. There were some vague drawings of etched spheres. Solas remained silent until his subjects settled themselves around the table. He then pointed at one of the trees marked upon what was the modern Ander-Tevene border on the map.

"Abelas and his sentinels have been sent to locate and search this temple for anything of worth," Solas began. His advisors glanced at each other with undisguised apprehension, for they knew there was only one thing truly 'of worth' within the old elven ruins. "I expect that they will return and make their report in two weeks. This gives us time to begin placement of spies within our greatest threats⏤the Inquisition and the Tevinter Imperium."

This declaration brought a round of vehement protests.

"The Inquisition is nothing after the Exalted Council!" one declared loudly. Another questioned, "But why the Imperium? Orlais⏤"

"⏤is still reeling from the aftermath of the Empress's near-death and its civil war," Solas finished. "The lapdog's bark is more powerful than its bite. As for the Inquisition, I would not scoff at its small size. It is a much more manageable and elite force, and we will have much more difficulty finding a place for any of my agents there than before."

The loudest of the offenders at the table had quieted at the Dread Wolf's words, which rang true. The Lady Inquisitor had declared the Inquisition to be the Divine's honor guard, and immediately following the Exalted Council, many of the Inquisition's soldiers returned to their homes as heroes. Those who remained received a thorough background check and equally rigorous training, sharpening the once-blunt end of the Inquisition into a fine, precise point. All of the Dread Wolf's agents were purged during this time. Solas had to give his _vhenan_ credit; she left no stone unturned in her quest to make the Inquisition a true, trusted security force.

Solas paused to gather his thoughts before continuing, "Granted, the Imperium is weakened by the Qunari onslaught, but the magic their magisterium wields rivals our own, for now. Not to mention, the Inquisition and one of Tevinter's newest magisters have close relations…"

Many hours passed as Solas outlined his thought process and the beginnings of an intricate web of influence. His Elvhen waged a war on two fronts⏤time and subterfuge. They were free to work unhindered while the Inquisition and the other major powers were harried by political interests and posturing.

Just as Solas was about to dismiss his advisors, one of them spoke in a lilting, musical voice: " _Ma'Fen'Harel_ , what of the Grey Wardens?"

Solas kept the surprise from his face as he studied this particular woman. Her waist-length hair was a stark white, and her skin a golden bronze. Her name was⏤he believed⏤Nydha. She was one of the few ancient Elvhen who answered his call to arms, and among the wisest of his council. However…

Solas chuckled. "The Lady Inquisitor banished the Grey Wardens from Orlais, and their forces are weak after Corypheus culled their numbers with his artificial Calling. I am sure they are stranded within their own infighting, Advisor."

Nydha's eyes narrowed at his response, her face pinched. To her credit, however, she stayed silent. Solas knew that the Grey Wardens would be out of the picture far too long for them to act against the Elvhen. Whispers reached Solas's agents' ears about brutal infighting among the Wardens, just as he had predicted when Nora first had them exiled from Orlais. He needed no further confirmation of their suffering. Solas answered some final doubts of his modern elven brethren, and everyone left the room with a sense of lightheartedness.

The People would take back their place within the world.

 _Mythal, ma'falon, you will be truly avenged this time_ , Solas vowed to himself. _You will bring Elvhen back to their former glory, even in your death._

These were his thoughts as he gazed at the Frostbacks, the location of the fortress his _vhenan_ currently occupied.

 _Ar inanan ma'vhenas._

* * *

 ***Excuse me, Dread Wolf.**

 ****You are welcomed.**

 **If anyone has any constructive criticism on the chapter itself, feel free to leave a review or PM me directly. I'll respond as promptly as I can! On another note, though there will be many, many phrases and words in Elvish, I will provide a translation for most of the phrases down here in the A/N section. The words, you can figure out with the sentence context.**

 **For readers who are not familiar with the Dragon Age universe, parts of the story will not make sense in the early chapters, but you'll begin to piece everything together later on in the story as I flesh out this particular timeline. Also, the way the calendar reads is 9:45 Dragon. This means that this story takes place in the 45th year of the 9th age (every 100 years is an age). This particular age has been dubbed the Dragon Age, hence the game series titles. :)**

 **-Banshee**


End file.
